Chinese and Japanese Martial Arts and their Weapons

Introduction:

Chinese martial arts refer to a series of traditional fighting styles. These styles have been in existence over years and are deeply embedded in the history of china as a whole. This relation with tradition has in effect raised the popularity of the fighting styles, attracting a worldwide audience as well as fanatics.

The martial arts have become a significant representation of the Chinese culture. The martial arts, commonly known as Kung Fu, are pretty much synonymous to China and vice versa. China as a country has managed to effectively export this tradition to several other countries, and also made it into an international sport.

History:

History has it that the Chinese ancestors developed these fighting techniques as a means of defending themselves when attacked. These techniques mostly involve the use of bare hands, combined with kicking, leaping and tumbling. These were added to the other fighting skills that they had acquired and involved use of weapons.

Over time, Kung Fu has grown in a massive way and with that curving fro itself, a spectacular history among the Chinese people. There have been established, a number of schools that teach the various martial arts fighting style. Some of these have their names derived from the geographical locations that they are based, while others have gotten their names from the creators of the styles, also known as master.

Chinese martial arts, as indicated earlier, come in several types. This article seeks to explain each and every one of the common styles available, while giving the insight as to Why many opt for Chinese Martial Arts over other styles as a predominant option when they seek training in that field. Simply put, these styles are already more popular around the world as compared to any other forms of martial arts.

Top of the list with the greatest popularity is the Shaolin Martial arts. As a fighting technique, this kind of fighting style was developed in the Shaolin Temple, located in the region of Hana. By far this is the most recognized and practiced style in the whole of China as well as the world over. The style is based on Buddhist training. This means that the whole technique encompasses the well being of the mind as well as that of the body.

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Following closely in the list of popularity is the fighting style known as the Wudang Martial Arts. This is classified as a sect and enjoys great levels of popularity that rivals the Shaolin. They are based at the Mount Wudang in the Hubei province. Their teachings are based on the Taoist theories.

Third type of Kung Fu is the Emei Martial arts. Based at the Mount Emei in the province of Sichuan, this sect is pretty much a blend of both Shaolin and Wudang styles of fighting as well as their teachings. They have also grown in popularity and spread to other regions within the greater China.

Compared to the other forms of fighting, Tai Chi is listed here last as it involves a much slower technique of fighting. Tai Chi was developed from a number of factors including; dialectic ideologies, Taoist theories and traditional medicine. It emphasizes on physical exercises and involves attacks by immersing strength, countering the attacker’s inflexibility with flexibility while beating the very action by in action.

A major reason why one would be advised to take Chinese Martial arts over other styles lies in the fact that Kung Fu is all encompassing. When one train in any of the fighting techniques above, he or she not only acquires sills that are used for defense, they also get to train their inner selves to maximize their potentials in ways that many cannot.

Kung Fu in this case teaches many to adapt to a form of meditation. By ascribing to Kung Fu, one attains a level of discipline that is attached to the teachings and ideologies of the ancient Chinese as Buddhism as well.

The primary aim of the training is therefore to bring out the best in an individual, before he or she is identified as a fighting expert. This is something that is not very clear in a number of other fighting techniques that are found around the world. Other forms of martial arts like Aikido are normally used for defense only and the person does not need to return strength for strength.

It is meant foe fending off attacks. Kung Fu on the other hand, involves both. The technique calls for extreme dedication and at the end of it all, it gives the person the skills to defend an attacker, as well as offering even a greater force against the attacker.

Conclusion:

Finally, Chinese Martial Arts has gained popularity over other styles, due to the fact that there is a variety to choose from. The available choices are all advantageous to an individual and have teachings from the great Chinese Masters.

Chinese martial arts, an age-old type of martial art, is characterized by the use of both the physical person’s body and also the use of weapons. These weapons can be classified into five categories:

Swords:

The swords used varied from tall to short swords. Long swords included: The Liuyedao, which was a moderately curved blade whose shape aided in increased the force of a cut. The Dadao looks like a knife but has a larger blade and is held by both hands.

The Yanmaodao is a straight blade, but is slightly curved or a depression at the point of contact with the impacted object. Other short sword include the Piandao, Jian and Nandao. the long swords include: The Changdao,which is knife-like but with a long blade; The Wodao, which is heavy, curved, very long and has a sharp blade; The Zhanmadao, which is approximately one an a half meters long, straight,single-edged but slightly curved towards the tip. Other long swords include the Miao Dao.

Chain And Rope-Suspended Weapons:

These weapons are suspended on ropes or chains, and are therefore highly flexible to use or handle. They include: The Sheng Biao, which is a dart, but suspended on a rope, approximately 15 feet long, which makes the dart to be able to be shot at someone and also pulled back; The Shuangjie Gun, which is a weapon made by joining two sticks at one end using a short chain.

This weapon is popular and is also referred to as a Chainstick. Others include The Jiujie Bian and The Liuxing Chui.

Held-By-Hand Weapons:

As the term suggests, these weapons are thed by hand and therefore held close to the body.They include: The Chui, which resemble a hummer, with the only difference being that at the end of the handle is a metal sphere; The Fenghuo Lun, which is a weapon made of two flat rings of metal, with blades that are fire-like projecting out, but leaving a space for holding. Other include The Emeici and The Ji Lian.

Projectile Weapons;

These were weapons used to launch other weapons. They include: The Huochong, which was a tube-like, bamboo projection gun; The Shouchong which is arguably the simplest type of early times firearms, and resemble modern cannons, and they required to be ignited from the outside in order to launch a missile. Other projectile weapons include The Huoqiang and The Zhuge Nu.

Pole-Arm Weapons:

These included the Kuan Tao, The Qiang, The Yueya Chan, The Ji The Nangun and The Podao. The kuan Kao was a heavy blade with a spike at the back. The spike would aide in capturing an opponent’s weapon by the use of a notch at the tip of the spike.

The Yueya Chan- also called Pinyin- was a spade-like weapon. The shaft of the spade was the pole, and on one end of the pole was a flat blade. On the other end was a smaller, crescent-shaped blade. It was often used by monks to defend themselves against bandits while travelling.